Friday, March 4, 2016

Connor Meeds' Very Impressive "Design I Project"

Connor Meeds provides a well-written explanation of his impressive "Monster Project" for Design I class.

The first real project of Design I is called the Monster
Project, and the objective is to essentially push a photograph of yourself as
far as you can using Photoshop. As an already self-taught user of Photoshop, I
wanted to convey a deeper, abstract message, to the best of my abilities.

Senior year is a time of academic closure before the real world; a time where
years of hard work finally has rewarding payoffs, and this influenced me to
create a picture representing the materialization of thought in its
manipulation of our surroundings.

Using a simple scene of writing, I was able
to illustrate the thought that occurs within ourselves with the extension of
rock above my head. As it continuously builds, pieces of rock break off,
leaving footprints of our academic path. Individual strands of thought can
become very powerful as they lead the 21st century in the creation of groundbreaking
technology and innovation, thus, I illuminate this through branching jungle
vines with the power to elevate surrounding desks. I hope to send a message to
those throughout their academic career that thoughts have the ability to
supersede the classroom walls to an eventual point of immense, materialized,
impact. Work your hardest, and things will always payoff.

Question 1: (4-5 sentences) What is going
on in your “monster piece?” How did you get your idea? Did your
idea change as you worked?

In my monster project, I transform a simple scene of writing
- an internal fabrication of thoughts, into an abstract depiction of the
internal through its materialization. I really wanted to convey learning's
expanding characteristics through literal tampering of objects. Thus, my
thoughts are portrayed as an almost paranormal-like rock form that appears to
be constantly expanding to the point where pieces are breaking off as it
becomes larger. The rock is unified with jungle vines, representing individual strands
of thought, which branch out and grab my surroundings to express thought's
elevated characteristics. At first, I wanted to portray my thoughts that
centered around moving from Groton into a big city, however, I found that the
portrayal of thought itself would be more abstract and unique as I went on. I
initially created a double exposure picture, but I didn't think that was
enough, so I expanded its black and white elements into a much more
"crazy" work where many more things are going on.

Question 2: Explain how you made your
piece. What images did you use? What demos/other research were
needed to make this happen? What were the most challenging technical
aspects? Which technical effects are the most successful?

Before creating my first attempt, I browsed the design
website you shared to scavenge some artistic elements that stood out to me.
This abstract photo manipulation really grabbed my attention as it seemed
almost paranormal-like: http://www.photoshoplady.com/photoshop-tutorial/create-unique-abstract-photo-manipulation/.
However, I wanted to expand on this abstract depiction of the mind further than
the tutorial's combination of it with city images. I harnessed the material on
this guide to find the perfect rock photo. It offered the same wide view shot
of a side of rock, and I cut out a piece which I thought looked best. I took
around 30 photos of myself to fit the character of this scene. I found that the
action of writing on a desk was a scene that surrounded my daily life as well
as fitting the quality of invoking thought. To offer the gravity-breaking
effect, I decided to take multiple pictures of the same desk from different
angles.

The other main image I used was a picture of vines:

http://img01.deviantart.net/821f/i/2014/269/f/c/vines_flowers_growing_on_a_wall_stock_photo_2__png_by_annamae22-d80mkeu.png.
I had to carefully cut out portions of these vines and warp them around the
rocks in a realistic way and expand them to grasp onto the multiple desks
around me. This was definitely the most challenging aspect of my work because
it took careful consideration of which vines to use and careful warping of them
without unrealistically modifying them. Another challenging part of my work was
the necessity to add some brush spots for added effect. I believe I did a
decent job, but it was challenging to find/make realistic brush patterns to
accommodate for the style of my work. Plus, my white sweatshirt is not the best
partner for grey brush marks - I should have wore a darker shirt to blend them
better. In regards to what I was most successful with, I enjoyed adding
multiple levels, curves, and black/white layer filters, and I like how they
look. I made good use of clipping masks to remove the black/white filter on my
face to add a sparkling effect, and also to apply a dim yellow color around the
edges of the rock for color depth. Though I've never used the crystallization
filter, I discovered it through the online tutorial and I really like how it
blurs portions of the image to create a surreal scene, especially when layered
over the clouds in the background. Overall, I loved every second of this
project and can't wait to create more unique projects.